Deputy has close call with cooler contents

Published: Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 06:32 PM.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — An Indiana man was jailed Wednesday on felony charges for allegedly dumping a cooler full of ice and water over a 12th floor balcony.

Imagine if you will, Deputy Chris Faircloth’s surprise when, around 3 p.m. on a warm and cloudless day on the pool deck at Legacy by the Sea Condominiums, a torrent of water and ice chunks suddenly poured down on the pavement next to him. Faircloth looked to the sky, where he saw a man, who he later determined was Tate Andrews, a 20-year-old from Kokomo, Ind., doubled over the balcony’s edge laughing, according to police and court records.

One man’s joke is another man’s felony. Faircloth went up to the 12th floor, where he found Andrews “in the bathroom attempting to elude arrest.”

He didn’t elude hard enough.

Faircloth arrested him for throwing a deadly missile, a third-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. After Fairchild read Andrews his Miranda Rights he asked if Andrews had noticed the signs posted throughout the complex warning against throwing stuff off balconies. Andrews had seen them, he said.

Andrews didn’t give any other statements to law enforcement after his arrest. He was booked into the Bay County Jail to await a bond hearing Thursday. Judge Timothy Welch set his bond at $1,500.

It’s not clear if Andrews has an attorney. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — An Indiana man was jailed Wednesday on felony charges for allegedly dumping a cooler full of ice and water over a 12th floor balcony.

Imagine if you will, Deputy Chris Faircloth’s surprise when, around 3 p.m. on a warm and cloudless day on the pool deck at Legacy by the Sea Condominiums, a torrent of water and ice chunks suddenly poured down on the pavement next to him. Faircloth looked to the sky, where he saw a man, who he later determined was Tate Andrews, a 20-year-old from Kokomo, Ind., doubled over the balcony’s edge laughing, according to police and court records.

One man’s joke is another man’s felony. Faircloth went up to the 12th floor, where he found Andrews “in the bathroom attempting to elude arrest.”

He didn’t elude hard enough.

Faircloth arrested him for throwing a deadly missile, a third-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. After Fairchild read Andrews his Miranda Rights he asked if Andrews had noticed the signs posted throughout the complex warning against throwing stuff off balconies. Andrews had seen them, he said.

Andrews didn’t give any other statements to law enforcement after his arrest. He was booked into the Bay County Jail to await a bond hearing Thursday. Judge Timothy Welch set his bond at $1,500.

It’s not clear if Andrews has an attorney. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.